


Hesitation

by xXUndertale_loverXx



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Broken Bones, Character Death, Concern, Confessions, Crying, Haphephobia, Heavy Angst, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Imprisonment, Loss, Love Confessions, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Multi, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Past Abuse, Past Verbal Abuse, Plot Twists, Regret, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Loathing, So much angst, Torture, Unrequited Love, Worry, dreamswap, loss of consciousness, soul pains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-06-24 09:19:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXUndertale_loverXx/pseuds/xXUndertale_loverXx
Summary: Error loves Nightmare and Cross. The bad thing is, he can't decide who he should confess his feelings to. In the meantime Cross and Nightmare start dating, ruining all of Error's chances with them. Or maybe they could work it out...?





	Hesitation

**Author's Note:**

> Dreamswap belongs to [Onebizzarekai](http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/).
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy! ^^

Error sighed quietly as he watched Nightmare and Cross. They were obviously having fun. The three of them were having a movie night but the two had probably forgotten about his existence again. They were making out on the couch, right next to him.

Error looked at the floor, feeling his Soul sting slightly. He would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to his two friends. He'd thought he'd have maybe even two shots at this. If one turned him down, he could still ask the other. But there had been a problem. He liked them both equally and he didn't want to hurt them.

So he had hesitated and now he was paying the price for it.

Error felt tears sting in his eye sockets and got up quietly, quickly walking to his room. He locked the door behind him and sunk to the floor, starting to cry. He took off his glasses and laid them onto the floor, sobbing quietly.

He was such an idiot. Blue had been right. Nobody wanted him.

 

“Error?” A familiar voice asked, snapping Error out of his self-loathing haze. He looked up, noticing that he was curled up into a small ball in front of the door to his room. Whoever was talking to him was on the other side of the door.

“Error?” Cross asked. When Error recognised the voice he curled up tighter. He really didn't want to see them. His Soul still hurt too much.

“Error! Open the door!” Nightmare demanded, making Error wince. He shifted slightly to block the door better.

“I can feel your negative emotions. Open the door or we will force it open!” Nightmare shouted.

“Error, please!” Cross yelled. Error shook his head in response, forgetting that they couldn't see him. He started sobbing quietly.

Error's breathing hitched as something slammed against the door, making the door quiver.

“dOn’t…” Error sobbed but the banging on his door continued as if the other two hadn't heard him.

Error couldn't concentrate enough to summon his strings. He shivered slightly and got out of the way quickly on a hunch. It proved to be right when suddenly the door burst open, Nightmare jumping in with his crescent staff weapon and Cross not even a step behind with his sword-like knife.

Error looked up slightly when he heard weapons clatter to the floor. He tensed up when he was hugged by Nightmare, shaking as the touch sent pain through him. He sobbed loudly, clinging to the shorter skeleton's shirt, ignoring the pain.

“What's wrong?” Nightmare asked worriedly. Error shook his skull in response. He couldn't possibly tell them. They were happy. He couldn't ruin that. He winced when Cross hugged him, rubbing his skull gently.

“You can tell us. We're on your side.” Cross murmured softly. Error closed his eye sockets tightly, sobbing harshly as he held onto Nightmare's shirt. He didn't hug back, didn't want them to hug him but wanted them to do it anyways.

“Error. We can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong.” Nightmare explained. Error shook his head frantically, his breath hitching on a sob.

“It's okay. You don't have to tell us. Just know that we'll be there for you.” Cross murmured quietly, rubbing his back gently. Error hiccupped a desperate breath, curling in on himself.

“Sh…” Nightmare whispered, pulling him onto his lap and holding him close. Error sobbed quietly, shivering a bit. He shouldn't think of anything other than platonic things.

Error continued sobbing, not able to calm down whatsoever.

“Error? Error, what's wrong?” Nightmare asked. Error barely heard him over his pathetic sobbing.

“i-i'm finE…” Error sobbed out. Nightmare's grip tightened on him.

“You're not fine! Stop lying!!” Nightmare growled, making Error flinch.

“i.. i just… it's. it's nO-nOthing…” Error choked out between sobs. Stars, he had been way too close to confessing. He closed his eye sockets tightly, fighting the urge to hug the two others and spill all his problems.

“We won't judge you.” Cross explained, hugging him tightly.

“i.. i.. i'm sO pathetic…” Error sobbed. He noticed both of their holds tightening. His Soul stung painfully. He wouldn't be able to stay. He might as well come clean.

“i. i lOvE yOu twO but i was tOO much Of a cOwaRd tO admit it!!” Error sobbed loudly. He felt their arms loosen around him in shock. He pushed them away, tears dripping down his face as he sobbed desperately. He opened a portal and jumped through, not hearing what Cross shouted at him.

 

Error was curled into a small, shivering ball, sobbing quietly. He didn't know what to do. Nightmare and Cross surely didn't want him around anymore. He'd confessed his feelings to two people who were already dating. He was so stupid.

 

“Error?!”

“Error!!!”

Error shivered as someone touched his shoulder and rolled him onto his back. He whined quietly and curled in on himself further. It was cold. Outertale was always cold. He curled into his jacket, groaning quietly.

“Error! Wake up!!”

… Nightmare…? Error's hazy mind supplied. He blinked blearily and looked up, seeing that Nightmare and Cross were hovering over him, looking incredibly worried.

Why did they seem so concerned?

Memories flooded Error's mind and he flinched back, his eye lights vanishing. He called on his magic, trying to get together enough to summon a portal but he was a bit dizzy, disoriented, sleepy and extremely anxious. His magic sputtered out, leaving him with no escape route.

“Error.” Error looked up when Cross called his name, his tiny eye lights quivering in fear. Were they going to hurt him for confessing his feelings?!

“s-stay back!” Error shouted, trying to scoot backwards a bit. His eye sockets widened in fear when his hand slipped off the edge of the cliff and he fell onto his back, dangerously close to the gaping abyss. He stared down with wide eye sockets, shivering in fear.

“Error!!” Nightmare and Cross shouted. Error looked up. They both looked shocked and extremely scared.

“Get away from there!!” Nightmare commanded, his eye lights glowing in fear. Error flinched back at his tone of voice. That sounded so much like Blueberry… His eye lights guttered out in shock as the piece of rock he had been on broke away. He didn't have time to scream before he fell.

 

“ERROR!!!!” Nightmare and Cross screamed simultaneously as they watched their best friend, no, the person they both loved just like they loved each other fall into the gaping abyss.

“NO!!!!” Nightmare screamed, trying to jump towards the cliff. Cross held him back. The ground there was unstable. It could give out any second.

“Cross, let me go!!!” Nightmare shouted, struggling viciously. Cross hugged him tightly, holding him back.

“No!!! I will not lose you too!!” Cross argued, holding him close. He grunted as Nightmare's flailing arm hit his face. The shorter looked up when he felt something wet on his datemate's cheek. Cross was crying. Nightmare sniffled quietly. He let out a small sob and clung to the taller.

“W-why?!” Nightmare shouted. “Why him?!!” He sobbed loudly, holding onto Cross tightly as he sobbed desperately, taking rattling breaths. Cross held onto him as tightly as he could.

“We could have worked it out!! He loved us just as much as we loved him!!! We could have been happy!!!!” Nightmare screamed, his breath hitching on a sob. Cross held him tightly, sobbing harshly.

They could have been together. They'd been through so much and now…

“Why did he have to sit on that fucking, stars-damned, unstable cliff?!!” Nightmare wailed, clinging to Cross tightly.

“Why?!! Why can we never be happy?!!!” Nightmare screamed in despair, his Soul aching with remorse.

“WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE US SO MUCH?!!!!” He screamed, sobbing hysterically as he buried his face into Cross’ jacket.

They both stiffened when they felt a portal open nearby.

Justice Reigns.

“F-fuck.” Cross choked out between sobs and held Nightmare close. He quickly teleported them away.

 

“Search the whole perimeter!!” Someone shouted. Error groaned in pain and blinked open his eye sockets. One lense of his glasses was cracked and his skull was pulsing in pain. He tried moving. His whole body was aching. He groaned quietly. He should be dead. He had fallen into the abyss.

Error looked around himself, noticing that he was on a small ledge. He was incredibly lucky to have landed there. He kept as silent as he could, trying not to draw any attention to himself.

He shivered in fear as he realised that the rock he was lying on could break away at any second. He shifted closer to the cliff face, his hazy eye lights trembling in fear. He didn't want to die.

Error listened to the footsteps of the JR agents, his throbbing skull making it hard to concentrate. His mind was hazy and he needed to get out of that situation as quickly as possible.

 

Error wasted no time once he was pretty sure the JR agents were gone and summoned his strings, adrenaline pumping through him as he pulled his hurting body up to the cliff. He stood on shaky legs and stumbled away from the cliff, a shocked scream leaving him as pain exploded in his skull. His legs gave out under him and he collapsed, losing consciousness.

 

Error blinked open his eye sockets slowly, grunting in pain. His skull hurt! He grumbled slightly and rolled away from the light, wincing when he noticed he was on a floor.

A stone floor.

And his whole body hurt, especially his back.

He sat up with a pained wince and looked around. He was in a prison cell. A Justice Reigns logo was on the other side of the bars locking him away from the rest of the world. He was in the JR prison…

A sob escaped Error. Cross and Nightmare wouldn't save him. They didn't want anything to do with him anymore. He could understand that. He couldn't help but wish his damn luck to hell because this was much worse than falling into an abyss. He curled into a small, shaking ball and closed his eye sockets tightly.

They wouldn't save him this time.

 

Cross listlessly listened to the JR agents. They were much too close to their home for his liking and he would have gladly taken care of them normally but he really only felt like crying.

“I heard Dream finally got one of those highly wanted skeletons again.” One of them explained, making Cross perk up a bit. Maybe a good jail bust could distract them a bit. He lowered his head in shame at thinking like that, feeling tears well up in his eye sockets.

“Some newbies actually managed to catch Error.”

Cross’ eye sockets widened when he heard that. Error was in the JR prison!!! He frowned immediately, his eye lights vanishing as tears dotted his eye sockets. Or they were lying.

He should tell Nightmare. A little bit of hope was better than none at all.

 

“You heard what?!!” Nightmare exclaimed as he heard the news. Cross only nodded to confirm his previous statement.

“It might be a trap but we have to chance it, Nightlight.” Cross mumbled quietly, hugging Nightmare. The shorter skeleton nodded.

“You're right.” And so they began planning, not sure whether to believe what the agents had said but clinging to the hope that Error was alive.

 

Error sobbed quietly, pressing himself into a corner of the barren room. He had his torn jacket wrapped around him and was shaking in pain and from the cold, maybe a bit from fear. He sniffled pathetically, curling in on himself tightly.

Nightmare and Cross weren't going to come. They probably thought him dead and never wanted to see him again. He wouldn't be saved this time. He would be executed. He'd die. Alone and forgotten, hated by the very people he loved so much more than anyone else he had ever met.

Error sobbed loudly, negative emotions curling around him as he let out a tiny, fearful whimper, clutching his jacket tightly.

“fORgivE mE, plEasE. i dOn't want to diE knOwing i huRt yOu!” Error choked out between sobs, trying to press himself closer to the wall.

 

Cross told Nightmare to shut the fuck up as they sneaked down the hallway of prison cells. Four days had passed since they had heard of Error's imprisonment.

Nightmare frowned as he felt a gigantic ball of negative emotions at the end of the hallway.

“I think I found him.” Nightmare announced. If that even was Error. He was pretty sure that he had never felt emotions this bad from Error. The amount of self-loathing and hopelessness made him shiver slightly.

“Quick.” He mumbled worriedly.

Nightmare and Cross sprinted down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of the last cell at the end of the hallway. They gaped silently as they saw their friend. Error was alive but the state he was in was horrible.

 

Error was shivering in fear. He didn't get captured often and usually got rescued quickly. He'd never been questioned for that long. His left arm was broken, dripping crimson marrow and he was covered in blood, his beloved hoodie jacket in tatters just like the rest of his clothes. He was sobbing harshly, his eye sockets squeezed shut tightly as he tried not to think about the fact that they had promised to kill him in two days.

“Error!”

Error didn't look up, only pressing himself into his corner more as he let out a whimper. He didn't want more pain. He flinched hard when the door to his cell was unlocked and two guards stepped inside.

"Error?" A familiar voice asked, making Error flinch harder. That sounded like... Cross... He curled up on himself tightly, tears dripping down his cheek bones as he heard the guards come closer and... sit down in front of him?

Error opened one eye socket tentatively, looking up at the two guards. Only that those weren't guards.

"n-n-nightmaRE...? cR-cROss...?" Error rasped weakly, his voice shaking as his breath hitched on an involuntary sob.

"Stars.. Error, are you alright?" Cross asked worriedly as he shuffled a bit closer.

"You're alive..." Nightmare breathed in relief. Error looked up at them with wide eye lights. They had come to rescue him!

"Can you walk?" Cross asked, his voice sounding urgent. Error pushed himself upright, his whole body shaking as he wiped his tears away, his left arm hanging limply to his side. Nightmare was by his side in less than a second, supporting him as his legs threatened to give out from the pain. Error winced slightly at the touch but relaxed almost immediately. This was Nightmare. He would never hurt him.

"Let's get you home." Nightmare murmured softly. Cross moved to Error's other side and supported him too. The dark skeleton relaxed as his two friends helped him escape from the prison, momentarily forgetting about his confession.

 

Error collapsed onto the couch, panting heavily. His skull was pounding in pain, in fact his whole body hurt. His left arm was throbbing in agony. Cross frowned worriedly as he sat down next to the dark skeleton, a jar of healing gel in his hands.

"What do you need me to heal?" Cross asked. Nightmare was in the kitchen, digging through the fridge for leftovers. Justice Reigns never gave them enough food.

Error silently took off his tattered jacket with a wince. Tears collected in his eye sockets. He had loved that jacket and now it was destroyed. He flinched as his shoulder gave a sickening crack. Error screamed in pain, curling in on himself and clutching his dislocated shoulder tightly as his vision blurred. He squeezed his eye sockets shut, whimpering in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Nightmare asked as he ran into the living room. Cross winced, gently taking Error's arm. They'd have to pop it back into its socket which would hurt even worse.

"Dislocated shoulder." He mumbled, examining the damage. The arm was broken too.

"Get a towel for him to bite on. Don't want him cracking his teeth." Cross explained, looking down when he felt Error cling to him, blood dripping from the other's mouth as he stared up at him with hazy eye lights. Error whimpered quietly. He wanted the pain to stop. He could taste something metallic but he didn't know what. His skull felt as if it had been filled with cotton. He barely registered Cross hugging him and closed his eye sockets as everything spun around him.

Error whined unhappily as something was stuffed into his mouth and he tried to spit it out but it was persistent. He screamed loudly as pain flooded his whole body, thrashing harshly. He sobbed quietly, digging the phalanges of his other hand into something. He fought not to throw up as he clung to the thing in front of him, his whole mind hazy. He panted as darkness suddenly took over everything.

 

Error shifted uncomfortably. He was laying on his side but he couldn't sleep comfortably without laying on his front. He managed to get onto his ribcage but immediately turned back when his ribs flared in pain. He grunted, blinking sleepily as he fought not to cry. Some of his ribs were cracked and while they didn't hurt as much as before, it was still extremely painful.

When the pain finally receded, he looked around, noticing that his glasses were missing. He grumbled unhappily at not being able to see anything. He suddenly remembered all about his confession, flinching slightly. Why had Cross and Nightmare saved him?

Error sat up with a pained groan, blinking at what he assumed to be some kind of food on the coffee table. He leaned closer to see it better, finding out that it was actually a blood-stained towel. Was that the thing that had been stuffed into his mouth?

Error decided that he didn't care and carefully placed his feet onto the floor. He needed to get out of there before he made the situation between them even worse. Nightmare and Cross wouldn't want him around anyways.

Error gritted his teeth in pain as he stood up, panting slightly as his legs threatened to give out under his weight. He sunk back onto the couch, closing his eye sockets. He needed to get his glasses to get out of there but he had no idea where they could be.

"You're awake." Cross stated. Error looked up nervously.

"y-yEah." Error replied quietly. "dO yOu knOw whERE my glassEs aRE?" He asked.

"I got them here but we need to talk about something important." Cross informed Error, his voice sounding serious. Error resigned himself to his fate as Nightmare came into the room.

"what dO yOu want tO talk tO mE abOut?" Error asked quietly. He really didn't want to talk.

"We want to talk about your feelings for us." Cross replied, making Error wince.

"We love you too, idiot. Don't ever run away like that again!" Nightmare explained bluntly, hugging Error after he had put something onto the coffee table.

"wha-?" Error asked, looking down at Nightmare. He was really confused when Cross hugged him too, putting his glasses onto his face as he kissed him. Error flushed brightly as he stared at Cross.

"We love you." Cross murmured softly, hugging him close. Error stared at Cross with wide eyes, flushing even brighter when Nightmare kissed him. He cuddled them both close with a small smile. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright. He really hoped so.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this oneshot. If you did, please leave me a Kudos or even a comment to show me that you did.
> 
> I hope you have a nice day! ^^


End file.
